Health Research (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert)/Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Health Research is designed for medical and dental trainees with the potential to become independent researchers, and to be taken part-time alongside work commitments, normally over one or two years.

PGCert
The Postgraduate Certificate in Health Research will help you to:

• develop skills of research, design and data analysis in both qualitative and quantitative research;

• critically evaluate health research;

• apply the principles of evidence-based practice in healthcare settings;

• plan how to implement the findings of research to improve healthcare; and

• use theories and principles underpinning clinical research to inform your own research practice.

By the end of the course, it is anticipated that you will be able to:

• demonstrate a knowledge of the principles, methods and techniques appropriate for solving evidence-based health and care problems and be able to translate that understanding into good clinical practice;

• demonstrate a range of research skills enabling you to complete research successfully, either as part of a research team or as an individual; and

• acquire, interpret and analyse information with a critical understanding of the appropriate contexts for their use through the study of the existing primary literature in the field.

By the end of the course, you should know and understand:

• health care organisations, their management and the changing context in which they operate;

• the ethical issues in health research and research governance;

• methods to integrate and synthesise different sorts of information, from diverse sources, when making both individual patient and health-policy decisions in a wide range of situations;

• the key issues for evidence-based practice in your own professional area or specialty; and

• how to work comfortably in situations of uncertainty and make sound judgements in the absence of definitive evidence.

The course is delivered through Oxford Lifelong Learning, with the expertise in curriculum design and teaching drawn from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine and the Clinical Academic Graduate School.

PGDip
The Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Health Research will help you to:

• develop skills of research, design and data analysis in both qualitative and quantitative research;

• critically evaluate health research;

• identify, critically appraise and incorporate the results of medical and social science research into the day-to-day decision making of clinical, scientific and administrative practice;

• apply the principles of evidence-based practice in healthcare settings;

• plan how to implement the findings of research to improve healthcare; and

• use theories and principles underpinning clinical research to inform their own research practice.

• In addition to the skills acquired during the PGCert in Health Research, graduates of the PGDip will be able to demonstrate an ability to apply health research techniques appropriately to research questions, and apply health research solutions appropriately when analysing health research problems.

The course is delivered through Oxford Lifelong Learning, with the expertise in curriculum design and teaching drawn from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine and the Clinical Academic Graduate School.

For the full descriptions, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas